Rocks + Water + Gold = One Fun Weekend in England!

Hello! And greetings from London, yet again! This weekend I stayed in the London area but it was still very busy and eventful! As I've already shared, I saw Wicked the Musical on Thursday evening and it was amazing! Then on Friday we took a day journey to Stonehenge, Bath, and another small village.
Stonehenge was so neat! It's really just a pile of rocks in the middle of nowhere! Three others and I decided we didn't want to pay to go on the "inner ring" so we took pictures on the side of the row outside of a fence.
We then went on to the city of Bath where some baths built by the Romans still stand! It was such a cute town and the baths were so advanced and carefully built. The water was green as you'll see so don't worry, no one wanted or attempted to do a cannon ball in ;-)
We then stopped at a little village on the way back that reminded me of where my Aunt Sherri and her family lives because it had one road and shop that some had tea in. Very cute!
On Saturday my room mates and I went shopping in the morning but then a big group of us went to a football match (or soccer) in the early evening. It was so fun but intense! We were sitting in the neutral or away section so some of the fans were quite load and hilarious. I would compare it to a Texas A&M game, but one level or so down.
Then yesterday we went to Buckingham Palace! I apologize for the lack of pictures but we couldn't take any inside! It was so beautiful though. Everything was so rich and detailed in gold and jewels. There was actually a special exhibit going on in honor of the Queens 60-year anniversary with her husband. Her wedding gown, jewels, and wedding gifts were on display! Quite Elaborate to say the least, but still very classy and sophisticated.
Well, I'm off to class, but I hope you enjoy the pictures (again, taken by others in the group, I'm so lazy). This upcoming weekend me and 5 others are off to Amsterdam! Will let you know how it goes!
Love and miss you all! ♥♥♥


Here's a picture of the match between Manchester and Fulham--

Here is the Bath Abbey. If you can see the people in the picture, that is md and 6 of my friends. I'm on the far right--

Roman Baths--

These are just some of the carvings that would have been on the top arch on the outside to greet visitors to the baths--


The small village we stopped in for a short while--
Inside the Bath Abbey--

The gorgeous organ--


Stonehenge!

The outside of the Bath Abbey--

This is where we had lunch. It's the oldest house in bath complete with a museum of the oldest kitchen--

Buckingham--
Too bad I'm not a queen and have my own pond in my backyard. I should get on that--
Not Buckingham...Stonehenge, again--

Wicked!

So I went to my first London play tonight! It was WICKED!! SO AMAZING! Afterwards we went and took pictures with the actors and actresses! YAY!!! It was so good. I'm still in shock....AH! Okay, enough screaming. There are plans under way to go see Mary Poppins and The Phantom of the Opera soon. I'll let you know...
Cheers ♥♥♥

My ticket after being signed by Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, & Boq.




She plays Glinda-

He plays Fiyero-

And Boq-
And the ever amazing Elphaba...or Wicked Witch of the West. She was so good! Her voice was so amazing!!!

Me and Sarah excited before the show:

The stage....
And some of the girls afterwards!

More Pictures of Scotland

Hey guys.
Here are some more pictures of Scotland. Just so that credit lies where credit is due, these pictures below have been taken by the talented Rachel and the ones in the first post about Scotland were taken by the wonderful Sarah. Thanks girls! ♥♥♥

Kilts, Castles, and Monsters...Oh My!

Hey Everyone!
Well, I am back safe from my weekend trip to Scotland! It was so beautiful and a blast. I traveled with 14 other people from my house, which I think was a good choice for the first weekend so I could feel safe and such, but I don't see it happening again in the future. It was difficult making sure everyone was always there and got to do everything they wanted.
So we began our journey Thursday night when we took an overnight coach/bus to Edinburgh, Scotland. We left around 11 and arrived the next morning at 7. The first thing we tried to do was find our hostel, which proved more work than it sounds. We printed off the directions the hostel gave us but they weren't very helpful. We took the bus basically to the other side of town and got off with no hostel in sight. The bus driver told us two options of getting there either down this road or through a path/shortcut. Of course we chose the shortcut which ended up not speeding things up whatsoever. We didn't find the correct one and some how ended up on a golf course! (Dad, you would have loved it!) So we back-tracked and went the other way which went on forever. Finally we called the hostel to find we were going to correct way, which no one believed was true. Five or so minutes later we were inside the lobby and thankful to have made it.
We next bused back into town to find breakfast and begin touring the city! We stopped finally at a cute little place named "Deacon Brodie's." Turns out, this man was the inspiration for the Jekyll and Hyde character! He was a wonderful locksmith with a wife and two kids by day but by night he would break into people's homes we had the spare keys to and take all of their possesions. Ironically, when the people of Edinburgh had enough they formed a committee to hunt down the theif and named who else but Deacon Brodie as the chairman. Needless to say he slowed everything down so he could get continue stealing. He finally was caught after he tried breaking into a house too big and prepared for him. Armed guards waiting captured one of his men who eventually sold Brodie out.
We then went up to Edinburgh castle which sat on 11 acres of land! It was so beautiful! We toured the castle and saw the royal jewels of Scotland--a scepter, sword, crown and a stone that all the kings/queens of Scotland must be crowned on.
Afterwards we went on a 3 hour walking tour of the city and saw lots of neat places, including where JK Rowling wrote most of the first Harry Potter book, the Hogwarts inspiration, a "haunted" cemetery complete with "watchdog" Bobby, where Sir William Scott probably lived, etc. Very informative and interesting.
We closed out the day with dinner and then lots and lots of sleep!
On Saturday we took a 12 hour bus tour of the highlands. It was gorgeous to say the least! We saw lochness and the "monster" (see below!), beautiful mountains and rivers, and much more I can't recall right now. In spite of it being super cold and other set backs by yours truly, we saw what Scotland was all about, the highlands.
We came back by night bus again last night and rolled back into bed this morning around 7. I slept until noon, and then got up to complete some homework and tell all of you about this weekend.
Just so you know, next weekend should be just as exciting! On Thursday night I'm going to see Wicked the Musical! Then on Friday I'll be traveling with almost everyone here to see Stonehenge and the Baths. On Saturday we are going to see a football (or American soccer) match. And finally on Sunday I think we are going to try to go worship at Hillsong!
I hope everyone is doing well. I love and miss you all! ♥♥♥

Oh...when I'm uploading the photos I'm not able to see them, just a long url or file address so I'm not able to put captions on them. If you would like to know what a certain building or photo is about, leave me a comment and your e-mail and I'll let you know!